Blancher



F. A. FOSTER AND J. E. FRALEYA.

BLANCHER; Arrucmon man MAR. lo, 192|.

l APatemmd Nov. M, 19222n a susers-SHEU 1.

Pur-1 ,les l F. A. FOSTER AND 1. E. FRALEY.

BLANCHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1o. 1921.

Patented Nov. M, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. A. FOSTER AND J. E. FRALEY. vLANcHEn.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.10| 192|. 1,435,285, Y Patened Nov. 14, 1922,

3 lSHEETS-SHEET 3` Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

UNrrED STATS PATENT" OFFICE.;

FRANK A. vFOSTER AND JAMES n. FRALEY, OF HOOrRsToN, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoRsTo SPRAGUE CANNING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA-TION OF ILLINOIS.

BLANCHER.

Application :tiled March 10, 1921. Serial NO. 451,190.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, FRANK A. FOSTER and J AMES E. FRALRY, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Ho'opeston, in the county of Vermilionand lState of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Blanchers, of which` the following is a full, clear,concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to'the'accom-panyingdrawings, formlng a part of this specication. l

Our invention relates to vegetable handlingapparatus and moreparticularly to blanchers. i

One of the objects of our invention `is to provide certain improvementsin the 'construction shown in the patent to Plummer No. 697 ,272, datedApril 8, 1902.

A further object is to provide an improved discharge means for theblancher.

A further object is to provide an improved construction whereby accesscan be readily had to the conveyor of the blancher for cleaning out,repairs, etc. A further 'object is to provide improved means forsupporting the rotatable conveyor drum.

Further objects will appear from the detailed description to follow andfrom the appended claims. l

In the drawings in which anen'ubodiment of our invention is shown- Fig.`1 is"a vertical longitudinal section of our improved blancher.;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig.

Fig 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig.

,Fig 4 is a section on the line of Fig.

7Fig. 5 is a lrear elevational view of the blancher;

Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview showing the' dischar e lifting wing; t

Fig. is an enlarged s1de elevation of y part of the front end of themachine.-

The blancher shown comprises a cylindrical tank v10, for holding the hotwater which is used in blanching, and a screw conveyor 11, located andoperating in the tank 10 for carrying the peas or other vegetables fromone end to the other of the tank v 10, whereby they are softened andwashed -by the hot water. T he conveyor.' 11 com? lof jet perforations24.

prises lcircular frontvand rear heads 4l2 and 13 respectlvely, inner andouter drums or cylinders 14 and 15 respectively, and a spiral or helicalweb 16 extending between the inner'a-nd outer drums.- The peas or othervegetables are supplied to the annular chamber between thev inner andouter drums 14 and 15 from a hopper 17 which delivers the vegetablesr toa distributing chamber 18 formed in the front end of the inner cylin`der 14, the vegetables being distributed from this chamber 18 toA vtheannular chamber between the inner and outer drums through -the dischargeopening 19.

For discharging the vegetables from the screw conveyor, the reariend ofthe screw conveyor is provided with a number of lifting wings or chutes20 ig. 6) secured to the rear head 13 of the screw conveyor.y i

These lifting chutes as they revolve pick up the vegetables which areconveyed to the rear end of the screw conveyor, and de- 25 withthetubular shaft, which permits rotation of the shaft without leakage ofthe water at this point.

. The cylindrical tank 10 is made in upper and lower halves, the lowerhalf 26'be1ng constructed to hold the water and the, upper half 27serving as a cover portion.

` In order to facilitate access to the interior construction forpurposes of cleaning, repair,

etc., the end 'heads 28 and 29 for the lower semi-cylindrical portion 26of the tank are made readily detachable with respect to thesemi-cylindrical shell portion 30, the vconnection bein such,- however,that watertight connection is provided at the joints. as indicated at31. This readily detachable water-tight connection-is effected by pro-Viding the cast end heads 28 'and 29 with arcuate channels' 32 to`receive the curved as I los

edges of the semi-cylindrical sheet 'metal shell 30. A packing strip33is tted into the channel 32 and embraces the edge of the shell 30 toeectually prevent leakage. Each of the end heads 28 and 29 is drawn andheld snugly in engagement with the cylindrical shell 30 by means of aset of bolts 3 4. Each bolt extends through aligned openings in therespective end head and a lug 35 secured to the cylindrical shell 30. Bydrawing up these bolts 34 the end head may be drawn uniformly and firmlyin position with respect to the semi-cylindrical shell 30. When -it isdesired.to obtain access to the interior construction, the bolts 34 areremoved, which enables the end head to be slipped away from the shell 30to permit free access to the linterior construction. 0f course, indisconnecting this end head, it has to be detached from the end head 36of the cover`27; rlihese connections between the lower end heads 28 and29 and the upper end heads 36 may be effected in any suitable manner asby. means of bolts 37 extending through reglstering openings in flangeportions in the upper and lower heads respectively.

Steam for heating the water in the tank may be supplied through thesteam supply pipe 38. Water is supplied to the tank by the water supplytank pipe 39 (Fig. 5).

vThe screw conveyor 11 which operates in the tank 10 is'surrounded by anumber of combination bearing ring and drive gear members 40, by meansof which the screw conveyor is supported for rotative movement anddriven.

A pair of rollers 41 is provided for engagement with the bearing ring,portion 42 of each of the members 40 (Figs. 2 and-3). ln order to,enable the supporting rollers 4l to be adjusted so that all of thebearing ring portions 42 will bear substantially equally on thesupporting rollers, each roller is made adjustable by means of a pair ofscrews 43, threaded in a roller supporting bracket 44 and engaging asliding bearing block 45. These sliding bearin blocks 45 are slidablymounted 'n the rollr supporting brackets 44, so that adjusting thescrews 43 will cause these bearing brackets 45 .to be moved in or out.rBy this adjustment of the bearing rollers 41, the screw conveyor 11 maybe supported uniformly throughout its length regardless of slightinaccuracies in manufacturing orv assembling the blancher. This is animportant feature as the blanchers are often of considerable length, andit is practically impossible to secure such accuracy in manufacture andassembly as would give a uniform support for the rotatable drum, unlessprovision for adjusting the support were made.

rllhe screw conveyor' 11 is driven. from a sprocket wheel 46, mounted ona longitudinally extending shaft 47,' which extends inside the cover 27from one end to the other, and has a number of spur pinions 48 securedon it. with the gear portions 49 of the members 40. rllhe dischargeconveyor screw 22 is driven from the shaft 47 through a sprocket wheel50 mounted on the shaft 47 a sprocket chain 51 driven from the sprocket50, a sprocket 52 driven from the chain 5l, a shaft 53 on which thesprocket 52 is mounted, a pinion 54 mounted on the shaft 53, and a spurgear 55 meshing with the pinion 54 and mounted on the conveyor screwshaft 23.

ln operation, the vegetables, such as peas', which are to be blanched,are supplied to the lhopper 17, water issupplied to the necessary heightin the tank 10, the water heated to the necessary temperature throughthe steam supply pipe 38, and the machine is put in operation to causethe operation of the screw conveyor 11 and the7 discharge conveyor 22.The rotation of the screw conveyor 11 carries the peas through the tank,to the rear end of the screw conveyor 11, where the peas are liftedbythe lifting chutes 20 and delivered to the discharge hopper or chute 21.The discharge screw conveyor 22 operating in this discharge chute 21insures the removal of the peas, this removal being facilitated by thesupply of water througih the jet openings 24,` this water acting as asort of lubricant.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A blancher comprising a cylindrical tank, a screw'conveyor operatingin said tank, sald screw conveyor comprising .a horirThese spur pinionsmesh.

zontal hollow perforated cylinder, and a helicalweb in said cylinder,and means for discharging the vegetables from the blancher comprismgadelivery chute, and a conveyor operating in said chute, and means f ordelivering the vegetables from said perforated cylinder to said chute.

2. A blancher comprising a' cylindrical` tank, a screw conveyoroperating in said tank, said screw conveyor comprising a horizontalhollow perforated cylinder and a helical web in said cylinder, and meansfor discharging the vegetables from the blancher comprising a deliverychute, and a screw conveyor operating in said chute, and means fordelivering the vegetables from said perforated cylinder to said chute.

3. A blancher comprising acylindrical tank, a screw conveyor operatingin said tank, said screw conveyor comprisin a horizontal hollowperforated cylinder and a-helical web in said cylinder, and means fordis.

charging the vegetables from the blancher comprislng a delivery chute,and a conveyor operating in said chute, and meansfor delivering thevegetables from said perforated cylinder to said'chute, said chuteextending inslde said perforatedV cylinder.

vcal web in said cylinder, 'means for discharging the vegetables fromthe blancher, comprislng a delivery chute, and a conveyor operating saidchute, and means for delivering the vegetables from said perforated cy1- inder to said chute, said chute being open 1 0 at the top, andextendin inside saiddrum, and lifting Wings insi e said. perforatedcylinder for delivering the vegetables to the open top of said deliverychute. v 4

In'witness whereof, we have hereunto sub- 15 scribed our names.

. FRANK A. FOSTER.

JAMES E. FRALEY.

